You’re setting up your event, you’ve priced your ticket at a nice round $50, and then the platform asks you one deceptively small question: do you want to absorb the fees or pass them on to the buyer? It sounds like fine print. It’s actually the difference between keeping your full $50 and quietly giving a slice of every ticket back.
Here’s the good news: it’s a single toggle, and once you understand the math you’ll never second-guess it. Let’s walk through when to absorb, when to pass ticket fees to buyers, and how the numbers shake out on EventPassHero.
Absorb vs. pass: the two-second version
Every paid ticket carries fees. The only question is who covers them at checkout.
- Absorb the fees: the price your buyer sees is the price they pay. The fees come out of your side, so your payout is a little smaller than the sticker price.
- Pass the fees on: the price you set is exactly what lands in your account. The buyer sees the fees added on top at checkout and covers them.
Same ticket, same event — just a different answer to “who pays the processing.” Neither is wrong. It’s a positioning choice, and on EventPassHero you make it once for the whole event with a single toggle. You can decide differently from one event to the next, but within an event the choice applies to every ticket.
Now let’s do the actual math
There are two separate fees on every EventPassHero ticket, and it helps to see them plainly:
EventPassHero 2.75% + $1.49 Stripe 2.9% + $0.30 One toggle per event
The 2.75% + $1.49 is EventPassHero’s platform fee. Stripe’s payment-processing fee of 2.9% + $0.30 is separate — that’s Stripe’s charge for moving the card payment, the same way it would be on any platform that runs on Stripe. Put those together on a $50 ticket:
- EventPassHero: 2.75% of $50 ($1.38) + $1.49 = $2.87
- Stripe: 2.9% of $50 ($1.45) + $0.30 = $1.75
- Combined fees: about $4.62 on that ticket
So on a $50 ticket, if you absorb, the buyer pays $50 and roughly $45.38 lands in your account. If you pass the fees on, the buyer pays about $54.62 at checkout and the full $50 is yours. The fee doesn’t disappear either way — you’re just deciding whose price tag it rides on.
Absorbing feels generous to the buyer. Passing keeps your budget clean. The trick is knowing which one your audience actually notices.
Why most organizers pass ticket fees to buyers
In practice, most organizers pass ticket fees to buyers. The reason is simple: when you’re raising money for a scholarship fund, a chapter project, or a nonprofit mission, every dollar of your goal needs to actually arrive. Passing the fee means a $50 ticket funds your cause at $50, not $45.38 — and across a few hundred tickets, that gap adds up.
It’s also what buyers expect. Anyone who’s bought a concert, a ballgame, or a flight has watched a service fee get added at checkout. A modest processing fee on top of your ticket reads as completely normal — because it is.
When absorbing makes sense
Passing isn’t automatically the right call. Absorbing shines when the price is doing marketing work for you. A “$100, all in” VIP table or a headline “$25 flat” day-party ticket lands cleaner than $27.44 at checkout. Round numbers are easier to promote on a flyer, easier to say out loud, and they remove that tiny moment of hesitation when a buyer sees the total tick up.
The psychology is real: transparency builds trust, but so does a price that matches the flyer exactly. If your event leans on a bold, memorable number, absorbing the fee can be worth it — you’re trading a little payout for a frictionless, no-surprises checkout.
And if your event is free? Zero fees, full stop.
Here’s the part that surprises people: if you’re running a free event, there are no fees at all — not from EventPassHero, not from Stripe. Free registrations, RSVPs, and no-charge community events cost you nothing to run. The absorb-or-pass question only exists once money changes hands.
Don’t guess — use the calculator
You don’t have to do this arithmetic in your head. EventPassHero includes a pricing calculator that shows you, in real time, exactly what you’ll take home at any ticket price under both scenarios. Type in your price, flip between absorb and pass, and watch your payout update — turning a fuzzy “that’s about right” into a number you can build a budget on.
Common questions
Can I pass ticket fees to the buyer?
Yes. EventPassHero lets you pass the fees to buyers with a single toggle, set once for the whole event. When you pass them on, the price you set is exactly what lands in your account, and the buyer covers the processing fees on top at checkout.
What processing fees does Stripe charge?
Stripe’s standard payment-processing fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. That’s Stripe’s charge for handling the card payment and it’s separate from EventPassHero’s platform fee — the same arrangement you’d find on any platform built on Stripe.
How much does EventPassHero cost?
EventPassHero’s platform fee is 2.75% + $1.49 per ticket, with Stripe’s 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee billed separately. There are no monthly fees, no setup fees, and no contracts — you only pay when you actually sell a ticket.
Are free events actually free?
Yes. If your event has no paid tickets, there are no fees at all — none from EventPassHero and none from Stripe. Free registrations and RSVPs cost you nothing, so the absorb-or-pass decision simply doesn’t come up.
Is there a pricing calculator?
There is. EventPassHero’s built-in pricing calculator shows your exact take-home at any ticket price, letting you compare absorbing versus passing the fees side by side before you publish, so you can price with confidence.
Related reading
- Get paid in 2–3 days with Stripe payouts
- Coupons and promo codes that drive sales
- Sell table bundles and individual tickets
The bottom line
Absorbing versus passing isn’t a trick question — it’s a positioning choice for your event as a whole. Pass the fees to keep your fundraising goal whole and your budget clean, which is what most organizers do. Absorb them when a bold, round price is doing your marketing for you. Either way it’s one toggle, set once per event (you can choose differently next time), and free events pay nothing at all.
Ready to set your prices the smart way? Create your event and try the pricing calculator, or book a quick demo and we’ll run your numbers together.
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